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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1906)
"wr"-? JULY 13, 1906""- - . The Commoner. four thousand years kept the body of the builder TV'L J- "VtTT 1 1 rrtf "" T -I' ' T"i concealed from the sight of man, and when wo . V JT12IX VV 1 J I I il f V PmlPf Kp V came out, half crawling and half climbing, each VT XIMl vv JLA- 115 V 1CX UlWl MJSZ assisted by two Arabs, our muscles as wen as our memories testified that wo had seen all of this stupendous pile. At the foot of these two pyramids stands jtho silent Sphinx-, and near it a granite temple almost as old. The Sphinx Itself is a little disappointing because photographs often show it in the fore ground and the pyramids behind it, and it thus appears relatively larger than it really is. It represents the body of an animal with a human head and is cut from a huge stpne that juts , out into the valley. It was a grand conception of the brain of one long ago forgotten and is the oldest product of the chisel of man. It has out lived unnumbered generations and seems tp mock at time. Its position by the pyramids is a fitting one, and looking upon it and them one is awed by the sense ot their antiquity and recognizes the appropriateness of the lines 'of' the lecturer, Stoddard: Eternal Sphinx; The pyramids are thine; Their giant summits guard thee night and day; On thee they look when stars in ' splendor shine, Or while around their crests the sunbeams play; Thine own coevals, who with thee remain Colossal genii of the boundless plain. Eternal Sphinx! Copyright. " ' 'J '1 ' '& '& J & '& & 'J & V 8 '1 '& & '& 'It ls S V '& & 'J & v 3 5 tft t&fc & & & ' & & & THE COMMONER AND. "FIRST & VOTERS" " T ' J J J A ' Lexington, Ky., reader wrote ' to The -Commoner as follows: - "I notice that the American Protec- & tive Tariff. Jeague Is sending out circu- & lars which read: 'Kindly give us the & name and address, etc., of one person S who will cast his first vote In the con- & gressional election of 1906. We wish to 8 forward literature on the subject of pro- & tcction. Ask your neighbors to co-open- S ate in this Work.' - & "Now, I suggest that every Com- 8 moner reader make it his duty to send to The Commoner office the name of one person who, at the next election, will cast his first vote, then a sample copy S of The Commoner could be seht to that & person. "I also suggest that every Commoner reader-wake it his duty to secure at least one of these 'first voters' as a yearly sub scriber to The Comrnoner. If we can get these young men to read The Commoner & regularly we need not fear for their po- s8 litical future." & The Commoner hopes that this sug- & gestion will be acted upon by Commoner & readers generally. It is Important that jfi the "first voters" be Impressed with the S value of democratic principles in popular & government. 2& In order to encourage the campaign S among "first voters," The Commoner will & be sent for sixty cents to any one who Is & to cast his first vote at the congressional elections of 1906 and whose name, ac- & companied by the subscription price, jt reaches TheCommoner office prior to 8 election day in November, 1906. & Any one desiring to avail himself of & this opportunity must state In his letter 8 that the one In whose name the subscrip- & tion Is forwarded will cast his first vote at the 1906 elections, and Is therefore en titled to this rate. ' Jfi A & - , &- &' SI & " ' J 3 What will tho verdict be concerning the work of congress at the session recently adjourned? Do tho things done and tho things loft undone warrant the claim macle by some republican edi tors that the republican congress has justified its party's claim to the proud title of "tho party of the people?" Nothing is to bo gained by captious criticism nor on the other hand by hysterical compliment, The simplo truth is that this republican congress, like its predecessors, was under the control of the special interests and went just as far .as it dared to go in protecting, tho schemes of powerful men who habitually and liberally contribute to republican campaign funds. The truth is that whatever was done by way of responding to tho popular demand for relief from corporato oppres sion was at the behest of tho president who on his own part faltered at critical moments and compromised on vital features of reform measures. This is not saying that progress was not made by the adoption of certain of the measures passed by this congress with all the glaring de fects of those measures. The credit for whatever has been accomplished, belongs, so far as repub licans are concerned, to Mr. Roosevelt, while it must not be forgotten that Mr. Roosevolt's ef forts would have been impotent had it not been for the intelligent and patriotic activities of dem ocrats in senate and in house, not forgetting, also, the splendid work of Senator LaFolletto whom we can hardly class as a republican since he has so often been read out of his party by men In authority. It is well that congress passed the railway rate bill. It would have been better had Mr. Roosevelt not yielded on the vital point in that reform. "The passage of the railway rate meas ure recognized the extensiveness and the correct ness of the demands on that line. And to that extent although it may not give the public the necessary relief the efforts of the champions of railway reform have not been in vain. The pro gress made may encourage the people to demand a measure .which will regulate the rates and -require justice for the shipper and the public at the hands of the public's agent, otherwise known as the railroad corporation. It is well that a bill providing for meat in spection was1 passed. It would have been better had congress required the packers to bear the cost of that -inspection and also required the use of labels showing the date. of the packing house product. The republican members will find it some- what difficult to explain to their constituents -why they failed to enact a law prohibiting corpora tions and national banks from making campaign contributions and requiring publicity with respect to all campaign funds collected and expended in connection with the election of federal oflloials. It will not be overlooked that Mr. Roosevelt failed bo give to this particular measure that at- tention which tho people had a right to expect at his hands, judging from the serious manner in which he treated the corporation contribution question in his message to congress. The republican party and all of its conspic uous representatives whatever the differences of these representatives may be on some questions1 occupy an unenviable position with respect to corporation contributions to campaign funds. Several hundred thousand dollars belonging to in surance policyholders and embezzled from them were traced to the republican party's national committee's treasury. A member of the presi dent's cabinet is chairman of that committee. Although from the Atlantic to tho Pacific and from the lakes to the gulf, editors and educators, preachers and laymen, merchants and professional men, farmers and laborers and good citizens gen erally have vigorously condemned the insurance officials for misappropriating these funds, men in authority" in the councils of the republican party have been strangely silent with respect to the conduct of the republican politicians into whose hands that stolen money was traced. Ex planation has been demanded of the insurance officials and the people have insisted that they be prosecuted. But no explanation has been re quired of the republican postmaster general who, as chairman of the republican national commit tee, muBt have had a guilty knowledge of tho acceptance by the republican committee of this stolen money. The McCalls and McCurdys must restore tho money they misappropriated for their purposes, but it does not seem to have occurred to the republican editors, nor to those high in au thority in tho councils of tho republican party, to soo to It that tho party itself mako restitu- ' Ion of tho hundreds of thousands 6t dollars which A woro embezzled for Its use and benefit. These things have not escaped tho attention of tho American people although republican edi- tors seek to avoid tho issue; nor havo tho peoplo '" overlooked the fact that, although in his messago last December, Prosident Roosevelt told congress that it was important that corporations bo pro hibited from contributing to campaign funds and that publicity should bo had with respect to these funds, roforin measures on this lino woro per mitted to dlo in congress. The peoplo will not forgot that tho republican party had full power to pairs lliora, and that the attention of tho party leaders was repeatedly called to these measures by democratic members and democratic editors. Nor will it bo forgotten that Mr. Roosevelt failed to back his words with deeds when tho time came for him to lend a helping hand to campaign fund' contribution measures. It was proved repeatedly in the house and senate that Amorlcan manufacturers were selling goods abroad cheaper than at homo and that tho high protective tariff provides shelter to tho trusts while they prey upon tho peoplo. But tho repub lican congress refused to give the people relief on the tariff question although tho domand for tariff revision comes as strongly from a consid erable portion of the rank and file of tho republi can party as it does from members of other parties. Promising in its platforms and through its stump speakers that tho tariff would bo "ro vised by its friends," the republican party through its congress Insisted upon "standing pat," which phrase was coined by representatives of the trust system and being interpreted means that tho re publican party will bo faithful to tho men, who provide it with campaign funds. Attention Is invited to tho comments upon,, tho work of congress made by the New York Press, a republican paper. Some of tho extracts , from the Press edUorJal appear in another col umn of this issue. The conclusions of this re-, publican paper are worthy of special mention. V , While agreeing that "so far as is known up, to date" Mr. Roosevelt is right that "not a single measure which the closest scrutiny would war- , rant us in calling of doubtful propriety has been, enacted," tho Press says that this is d"o to tho fact that there woro "too many watchmen on guard both in congress and the White House and elsewhere, and public vigilance was never so , wide awake." But, according to this . republican paper, in- , fluonco was at work against public interests and ( to tho advantage of special interests; and, in tho. , view of this republican paper, that influence pre- . vailed. with respect to nearly all the corporation measures. Admitting that congress has done more for the public good than in many years this republi can paper says that this Is by no means a tribute as "for years congress has done nothing what ever to stop , railroad extortion, and for nearly. . a decade has encouraged the corrupt alliance be tween railroads and trusts for the robbery of tho people." Then this republican paper concludes: "There is more difference between what congress has done and what the people wanted It to do than there is between what congress has done and what it had hitherto not done. And no cause Is served, save the unworthy cause of political expediency, -by emphasizing the things congress has done and remaining silent about the larger things congress has failed to do. Glowing words of praise for house and senate may help in tho approaching campaign, and are of course calculated for their effect on the election. They will not help to bring about the right settlement of the questions which, a corrupt house and senate have refused to settle right, and which thoy have not-r-most qertainfy have not, if Mr. Roosevelt will pardon us con sidered with 'disinterested highmlndedness Nor will these questions be settled right until the men who have had the largest share In postponing thoir adjustment are driven from public lire." Who will say that this is not a fair esti mate of the work of the republican congress? If Mr. Armour, who is Interested In trans portation lines, is not satisfied with the court review provision in the rate bill, he is cordially invited to give attention to the lack of a court review provision in the meat Inspection bill. Mr. Armour certainly is hard to please if he can not. got some satisfaction out of one or the other. ,..,fcl..W K(iafxius. jk.., ,i-. ... .j.-l- hjj.j. . w-. J-' r,